garrison



H. GARRISON CAN OPENER Filed D60- 19. 1932 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mew/6;

Aug. 25, 1925. "1,551,303

H. GARRISON CAN OPENER Filed Doc. 19. 1922 v z s e ts-sh 2 ing cutter.

Patented Aug. 25 1925.

UNITED HERMAN oAieRI'soNg or" onions/0, rnnINoIss can OPENER.

Application filed=December 19,.1922. Serial No. 607,819:

To all whom z'tmay concern:

Be it known that L HEnMaN GiiRnrsoiN, a. citizen of the. United States, residing; at Chicago, in .the county of Cook. and'State of Illi nois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Can Openers, of. which the following. is a specification.

The present invention is related to my co-pendingapplication, SeriaLN umber 505,- 615, filed. on the. 5th day of October, 1921, for Letters Patent for improvements in can openers, on which an essential claim has been allowed, andhas for its objectsfisimi- 'lar ones to those set. forth. in said pending application.

The principal! object of either invention the posit-ion. in, which ,it is practicable to;

pry it intothe can. Inthedevice; which is the subject of my, saidcpehdingg applica-j tion, the problem. issolved by pivoting;- thel: knifeto the handle, making it capable of; assuming; one position forpiercing; and an other for cutting, 7 3" 7 In the presentinvention, the. solution; con= sists, in one form thereof; in providing. a;- lateral piercingprod Thisprod' is forced; into the can and" then withdrawn; the; handle given a'part-ial turn,an,d- -the slant ing knife is thrust into the. incisionniade by the. prod, the process ofiopening the; can being completed by the rotation of the handle. g H I 3111 another and the simplest form ofthe. present'invention, the handle is provided with a terminal' piercing prod and-;a.;slant.--

this class the center of the can is perforated;

by the point of: saidyterminal prod; the? handle, employed as a lever whose. fulcrum is atthe center is lowered, forcing the; cutter into the can,tandlacircular cut is effected by rotating the handle about the center.

In the accompanying drawingsg v v1 is aview inside elevation of-as can opener embodying the simplest form of the inventionl' 1 i 1;, Fig; 9111s ebe m. P a view, t er f a 3 is 1 an, end-view looking towards.

As is. usual in can o-peners' of the end of the handle from which the terminal piercing .prod isextended. I

Fig, 1. is a fragment-a1 side View of the. form of opener shown in Fig. 1 but illustrating a slight modification in the'form of the, terminal piercing prod.

F ig, 5 is a side view of'aportion of the handle of the opener, illustrating a. modification in; the position of the terminal piercing prod thereon I Fig. 6 is aside View illustrating still another modification in the construction of the opener.. a

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Fig, 8 is an end elevation of Fig.6 looking towards the end' of. the-handle from which the terminal piercing prod is. extended. 7 V Fig, 9. is a cross-sectional View of the lateral'prod of theopener of" the construction shown in Figures 6 to 8 inclusive;

Fig. 10 is asim'ilarview of alike part showing a modification in the construction h re .2

Fig.11 is a side view of a portion of the handle anda part of theterminal piercing.

prod showing a modification inthe'construm tion of the. cutter. V v

Fig. ,l2=is.-adiagrammatic view of a portion of a can showing. an improperly formed puncturevor opening therein.

Fig, 13 is a diagrammatic view of aportion of'a' can illustratingapart of the device and the relationof its cutter with re-; spect to the improperly formed incision, for the purpose of assisting in an explanation of theproper relation between the lateral prod and the cutter. v

n Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic-view showing aportiou of another modified form of'the cutter. illustrating its relation with respect toth'eincision in thecan.

Fig. .15 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of a canshowing a modification in the form. of the incision therein.

Fig. 16 is a diagrammatic view of a portionof a can showing a portionof the opener in a position it may be caused to assume-in the operation ofo'pening cans of unusual size or shape, and i Fig. 17 is a side View of a portion. of the handleandlaportion of the terminal prodof the instrument showing a. modification-win. the mounting of thecu-tt'er on the1handle and the provision: ofa guiding shoulder toenegeth r m f 211 Corresponding numerals of reference refer to like parts throughout the difierent views e drawings.

now more particularly to F gs. nclusive the drawings, the numeral rate the handle of the device, which may be mat. of any suitable size, shape and 3u has rigidly fixed to its front ded longitudinally therefrom, (ring prod 21 which as shown is aligned with the handle 'sh forwardly tapered form. t irriinal prod may be of the t 92 in 4: of the w it will be observed L 11.: located in .s shown in .ei

n to ti o the dr 2, it may be disposed handle as shown at- 23, in i either of which modilinal move Fv varying the depth to Hi 3! n" 11 s msei cu in tea center or 1, J fl": A to es of cans, vary 1g in di- -o1n two and a to four inches. ow'i in Figs. 1, 6, 11, 13 and 16 the knife or cuttenwhich s. WlEOiE in each of said views s moral as, is rigidly lined to the the end thereof adjacentthe piercing prod an angle thereto, n its front face net r the handle a '2"; acts as a brace and ais the operation of the op explained. The ave it diliioult to a draw greater diameter than t on y been are ays pro to be used in prying. In this opener one knife serves both purposes, as shown'in F 16. The shoulder 25, resting on the the periphery affords a fulcrum for aryin the operator, by alternately pulling t 1e handle toward him and moving the instrument forward will accomplish successive stages of the work of cuttin Ifhe knife or cutter 24 is pointed as shown, and is mounted on the handle transversely with respect thereto. This construction and arrangement of the knife or cutter 2 1- is maintained in the construction of the device wherein a terminal piercing prod only is employed, as well as in the construction wherein a lateral piercing prod as well as a terminal prod is employed.

The length of the knife, measured from its base or point of attachment to the handle, is much greater than is usual in openers of so adapted to the.

this type, and its continuation beyond the shoulder 25 exceeds the length required for a draw cut. The primary object of this elongation of the knife is to increase the angle which it will form with the surface at the momentof insertion, thus facilitating its introduction into the can. In the softer ma terial of the smaller cans this can usually be accomplished without having recourse to the lateral prod 26 to effect an initial opening.

The lengthening of the knife is also of use in adapting the instrument to cans of different sizes, and it assists in the process of raising the partially detached segment of the top of the can after the incision is completed. This is accomplished very readily by a twist of the handle, which forces the knife against the lower side of the se ment. The modified form of the opener shown in ljigs. 6 to 8 inclusive consists in employing the cutter 2d, the terminal prod 21, and in addition thereto a laterally extended prod 26 which is located near the end ofthe handle 20 adjacent the prod 21, and is by preference slightly inclined in a forward direction asshown in 7 of the drawings. In order to establish a proper relation between the cutter 2d and the lateral prod 26, it should be understood that the prod 26 must be thick enough to make an opening when forced into the surface of the can in which the incision is to be made, of sufficient width, measured on a radius of the can, to admit the point of the slanted knife.

ihis width may be'attained by making the forward face of the prod 26 plane and the back thereof obtuse'as at 27 see Fi 9 of the top 29 of a can 30, the bent portions,

31 and 32 of the can, see Fig. 14:, will be caused to assume about the positions shown in the last named figure of the drawing. and that the bent portion 31 will be greater than the bent portion 32. It will further be understood that the plane front face of the prod is slanted forward as far as practicable, thus giving a. likeslant to the bent portion 32 of the can. The point of the cutter 24 may betruncated as shown at 33 in Fig. 14, or may be convex or arcuate on top, or may even be bent down as shown at 34; in Fig. 11 of the drawings. The con struction shown in Fig. 17, at 33 and 34 will facilitate the introduction of the knife into the can when the prod 26 is not employed, since it will cause the point to strike the surface in a more nearly vertical direction. r 1

In order to assist in a explanation of the mutual co-action of the lateral prod, the cutter, and the bent'portions of the can, dia- Ill!) grammatic views of the can are shown in Figs. 12 to 15 inclusive, in the former of which views the top of the can 30 is shown as being provided with a puncture produced by a prod occupying a position with respect to the top of the can whereby the bent portions 31 and 32 of the puncture are caused to assume substantially vertical positions as shown- The same positions of the bent portions 31 and 32 are shown in Fig. 13, in which view the can opener is shown in operative position to illustrate the improper relation of the bent portions of the can to the cutter In Figs. 14 and 15 the bent port-ions 31 and 32 of the can are shown in about the positions they will assume when it is de sired to insert the cutter in the puncture for operation of the opener.

In Fig. 16 of the drawings, I have shown the opener occupying a position it is adapted for when designed. for use on cans of unusual size or shape, from which view it will be understood that by thrusting the cutter 24 into the can vertically, the shoul der 25 will rest on the rim of the can and furnish a fulcrum on which the cutter may be pried forward, in a like manner as with openers of the ordinary type.

In Fig. 17 is illustrated a modification which consists in providing. the handle 20 of the cutter with a block 33 from which the cutter is forwardly inclined and providing said block with a shoulder 34: rearwardly of the cutter to rest on the rim of the can 30 for the purpose of acting as a stop or guide to prevent inward movement of the cutter when the handle is rotated.

By employing a can opener embodying my improvements, I have found by practical experiments that it cuts much more readily than the openers in which a draw cut is made with a knife which is nearly vertical. The reason is, that when the cutter is vertical or but little slanted, the cut edges of the tin must be bent as is shown in Figs. 12 and 13, whereas with a' greater slant, the labor required to bend the tin is avoided as shown in Fig. 15 of the draw.- ings. v

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a can opener the combination of a handle, a terminal tapering prod which extends obliquely downward, and secured to the handle an elongated transverse'cutting element being such as to approach in magnitude the length of the elongated knife.

3. In a can opener the combination of a handle terminating with a pointed tapering prod which extends obliquely downward, and secured to the handle an elongated transverse knife having both its cut ting bladeand its point set oblique to the axis of the handle; the divergence of direction between the handle and the'point beand the basal part of the cutting knife.

4;. In a can opener the combination of. a

handle, an elongated knife secured thereto,

and having both its cutting blade and its point set oblique to the axis of the handle,

a tapering terminal prod which extends obliquely downward to a distance whose minimum' approaches the length of the knife, and a shoulder adjacent and anterior to the base of the knife and facing toward the pointed end of the instrument.

5. In a can opener the combination of a handle, a tapering terminal prod which exknife which is secured to the handle and set oblique to the axis thereof, its oblique direction being continued throughout its entire length, and a shoulder situated within the apex of the plane angle defined by the inner faces of the knife and handle and adapted to rest on the periphery of the can when the knife is inserted vertically with the prod outside the can.

6...In a can opener the combination of a handle, a terminal tapering prod which extends obliquely downward, an elongated transverse cutting knife which is secured to. the handle and is forwardly inclined,.'the inclination of its point being less than that of its basal portion, and a shoulder placed anteriorto the base of the knife and facing toward the pointed end of the instrument.

HERMAN GARRISON.

.ing greater than that between the handle tends obliquely downward, an elongated. 

